Articles tagged: Texas Legislature
Texas Had a State Office That Could Have Investigated Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Cases. Lawmakers Defunded it Three Years Ago.
While early reports elsewhere show African Americans disproportionately infected and dying from COVID-19, Texas’ data is incomplete.
In 2005, faced with data showing that black and Native American families were overrepresented in Texas’ child welfare system, lawmakers ordered Child Protecti...Read More
The COVID-19 Disaster Has Made a Mess of Texas’ Open Government Rules
Some government officials in Texas appear to be exploiting the pandemic as a way to hide public business from the public.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and opportunistic public servants, government agencies now have carte blanche to operate in secret for as long as this crisis pe...Read More
‘I’m in Limbo Here’: Texans Are Met with an Overwhelmed and Antiquated State Unemployment System
The safety net meant to support the second largest workforce in the country is using decades-old technology. The workforce agency was trying to replace it when the pandemic hit.
Four months ago, Alan Chastain moved from Louisiana to the Houston area for a promising new job as a sales representative at a sign company. By late March, Chas...Read More
Gene Wu on Coronavirus and the Rise in Hate-Fueled Attacks Against Asian Americans
How comments from Trump, Cruz, and Cornyn inflame deep-seated prejudices against Asian Americans, further alienating them.
Jose L. Gomez, a 19-year-old charged with three counts of attempted capital murder, allegedly wanted to kill an Asian American family that included two young ch...Read More
As Texans are Exposed to Dangerous Pesticides, Lawmakers Aren’t Doing Anything
Pesticide drift is exposing rural Texans to dangerous chemicals. But lawmakers are more concerned with how that is eating into Big Ag’s balance sheet.
In the interim between legislative sessions, Texas lawmakers on the House Agriculture Committee will have an opportunity to examine an important but under-the-r...Read More
State Senator Eddie Lucio Is Headed to a Runoff
The Texas Senate’s most conservative Democrat may not be invincible.
In Brownsville, a Goliath has stumbled. After 29 years in the Texas Senate, Eddie Lucio—the upper chamber’s most conservative Democrat—has been pushed int...Read More
It’s Illegal to Take Drone Photos of Cattle Feedlots in Texas. Press Groups Say That Violates the First Amendment.
To get a sense of the Panhandle’s network of cattle feedlots, which can cause health problems for those who live around them, you've got to see it from above.
Close up, a feedlot cow is a sight to behold: It’s a hulking, broad-shouldered eating machine with a three-foot-long tongue and a jaw that never seems to stop...Read More
Hemp Snafu Offers Texas Cities a Way to Decriminalize Marijuana
Austin leaders will consider a proposal to effectively end enforcement of misdemeanor pot possession.
Last year, police groups killed marijuana reform in Texas, which both political parties now support, with a Reefer Madness-style misinformation campaign. But a ...Read More
Driving My Life Away
As physicians leave small towns, rural Texans must travel farther and farther for health care.
Critical Condition: Part 2 Driving My Life Away As physicians leave small towns, rural Texans must travel farther and farther for health care. + + + by Christop...Read More